The Financial Stability Board (FSB) commenced in March 2010 an initiative to encourage the adherence by all countries and jurisdictions to regulatory and supervisory standards on international cooperation and information exchange.1,2The initiative responded to a call by the G20 Leaders at their April 2009 Summit in London for the FSB to develop a toolbox of measures to promote adherence to prudential standards and cooperation with jurisdictions.
Although member international bodies of the FSB, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), support and contribute to the FSB’s efforts to promote global adherence to international standards, member international bodies’ legal frameworks and policies preclude their participation in decisions regarding the listing of non-cooperative jurisdictions and the adoption of negative measures that are not in accordance with those frameworks and policies.
To recognise the progress that most jurisdictions evaluated by the FSB under the current initiative have made towards implementing international cooperation and information exchange standards, and to incentivise improvements by those jurisdictions not cooperating fully, in November 2011 the FSB published the names of all jurisdictions evaluated. This status update provides current information on the countries being evaluated under the initiative. The list includes those identified as non-cooperative jurisdictions.
Objective of the initiative
The focus of the FSB’s current initiative is on adherence to internationally agreed information exchange and cooperation standards in the areas of banking supervision, insurance supervision and securities regulation. Cooperation and information exchange amongst financial supervisors and regulators are essential for effective oversight in an integrated financial system. Financial markets are global in scope and, therefore, weaknesses in international cooperation and information exchange can undermine the efforts of regulatory and supervisory authorities to ensure that laws and regulations are followed and that the global operations of the financial institutions, for which they have responsibility, are adequately supervised.
The current initiative is part of a framework that the FSB has put in place for encouraging stronger adherence to international standards more broadly. In this framework, FSB member jurisdictions have committed to lead by example. They have committed to implement international financial standards, participate in international assessments, and disclose their degree of adherence. In addition, FSB members undergo periodic peer reviews focused on the implementation and effectiveness of international financial standards and of policies agreed within the FSB.
Jurisdictions evaluated
While the ultimate objective of the FSB’s initiative is to promote implementation by all jurisdictions, the initial focus is on the adherence of FSB members and other jurisdictions that rank highly in financial importance. Under the initiative, the FSB prioritised a pool of about 60 jurisdictions for evaluation, including all 24 FSB member jurisdictions together with non-FSB jurisdictions that rank highly based on a combination of economic and financial indicators. (The ranking process is described in more detail in Annex B of the November 2011 statement).
The FSB has to date evaluated the jurisdictions listed in Tables 1 to 3 to determine whether they demonstrate sufficiently strong adherence to regulatory and supervisory standards on international cooperation and information exchange. Adherence was evaluated by the FSB based on the latest available detailed assessment report underlying the IMF-World Bank Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC), as well as on the signatory status to the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of Information (MMoU). Continue reading